France: a “worrying” increase in lung and pancreatic cancers among women

In a new document entitled Panorama of cancers in Francethe INCa (National Cancer Institute) is concerned about “the worrying increase” lung and pancreatic cancers in women.

Cancers of the lung and pancreas: why do they increase in women?

“The most common cancers in men remain prostate cancer (59,885 cases), lung cancer (33,438 cases) and colon-rectum cancer (26,212 cases). breast cancer (61,214 cases), colorectal cancer (21,370 cases) and lung cancer (19,339 cases)”, first indicates the document.

“These latest estimates describe a rather encouraging situation for men, with a decrease in incidence or stability for these locations,” analyze the authors of the report. “Nevertheless, two cancers show a worrying increase in the incidence rate in women over the period 2010-2023: lung cancer (+ 4.3% per year) and pancreatic cancer (+ 2.1% per year )”, they lament.

“Tobacco consumption that began in the 70s and 80s among women is today the major consequence of these cancers”, they specify. “If never smoking or stopping tobacco consumption remains the best way to avoid exposing yourself to these cancers, other avenues are being explored. For lung cancer, for example, screening is currently being considered,” they recall.

“The incidence of cancer in France has increased over the last 20 years”

The INCa synthesis work also notes that the incidence of cancer in France has increased significantly over the last 20 years, reaching more than 433,000 new cases in 2023. “Demographic change is the primary cause. Indeed, the increase and aging of the population explain 78% of the change in incidence in men and 57% in women,” explains the document. “Next come changes in the risks of cancer occurrence, which represent 20% in men and 47% in women,” can also be read.

The Panorama of cancers in France also calculates the number of deaths linked to cancers in our territory, i.e. 162,400 deaths in 2021.

Progress in research has made it possible to improve the survival of people suffering from numerous cancers, particularly prostate cancer, with a standardized 5-year net survival of 93% between 2010 and 2015 (+21 points difference compared to survival standardized net survival at 5 years between 1990 and 2015), cutaneous melanoma (93% net survival, an increase of 11 points) or even breast cancer (with a standardized net survival of 88%).

Cancer survival : “locations which remain poor prognoses”

“On the other hand, lung, pancreatic and liver cancers are among the deadliest cancers and have a very unfavorable prognosis,” reports the INCa. “This unfavorable prognosis may be linked to a late diagnosis, a location that is difficult to access, a rapid and aggressive progression, resistance to therapies or a lack of specific therapeutic solutions,” he adds.

The cancers for which the number of deaths is highest among men are lung cancers (20,500 deaths), colorectal cancers (9,000 deaths) and prostate cancers (9,200 deaths). In women, these are breast cancers (12,600 deaths), lung cancers (9,900 deaths) and colorectal cancers (8,000 deaths).